Samuel Wagner to be ordained a deacon for Diocese of NU

Sunday

Jun 16, 2013 at 6:00 AM

Samuel Wagner will be ordained a deacon for the Diocese of New Ulm on Saturday, June 15 at the Church of St. Mary in Sleepy Eye by the Most Reverend John M. LeVoir, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm. The ordination Mass will begin at 10 a.m.

Samuel Wagner will be ordained a deacon for the Diocese of New Ulm on Saturday, June 15 at the Church of St. Mary in Sleepy Eye by the Most Reverend John M. LeVoir, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of New Ulm. The ordination Mass will begin at 10 a.m.

Wagner, 36, son of Michael and Audrey Wagner, is a native of Sleepy Eye. After graduating from St. Mary’s High School in 1995, he received a bachelor’s degree in accounting from St. Mary’s University, Winona, in 1999. He began his studies for the priesthood at the St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity, St. Paul, in 2008. After an assignment this summer, he will return to the St. Paul Seminary in the fall to complete his studies for the priesthood.

As a deacon, Wagner will assist the priest at Mass by proclaiming the Gospel, giving the homily, and helping prepare the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist. He can perform baptisms, witness marriages, bring Viaticum to the dying, and preside at wake ceremonies and burials. A deacon can preside at liturgies of the Word and at Communion services in the absence of a priest. He can officiate at celebrations of the Liturgy of the Hours and at exposition and Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. He can also conduct public rites of blessing, offer prayer services for the sick and the dying, and administer the Church’s sacramentals, as designated in the “Book of Blessings.”